Name of the Project
Broken Hill cobalt project.

Location
New South Wales, Australia.

Project Owner/s
Cobalt Blue Holdings.

Project Description
The Broken Hill project aims to develop the Pyrite Hill, Big Hill and Railway cobaltiferous pyrite deposits.

The 2020 updated study delivered significant enhancements, compared with the 2018 prefeasibility study (PFS).

The project’s probable ore reserve increased by 55%, from 46.3-million tonnes at 819 parts per million (ppm) cobalt in the 2018 PFS to 71.8-million tonnes at 710 ppm cobalt in the 2020 updated study.

The production target for the project has increased from 58.7-million tonnes at 802 ppm cobalt in the 2018 PFS to 98-million tonnes at 690 ppm cobalt in the 2020 updated study, with contained cobalt increasing from 47 000 t to 67 000 t.

The project’s projected operating life has also increased from 13 to 18 years, with average production expected to reach between 3 500 t/y and 3 600 t/y of cobalt.

Broken Hill will use a multi-openpit mining scenario that will extract ore using conventional drill-and-blast, load-and-haul, and dump processes. It is envisaged that the operation will use excavators and rigid body trucks along with a fleet of auxiliary equipment.

Up to 6.3-million tonnes a year of ore will be hauled to a stockpile area close to the processing plant located centrally to the pits. Waste material will be hauled to the waste emplacements situated close to each pit.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a pretax net present value, at a 7.5% discount rate, of A$770-million.

Capital Expenditure
The updated study has estimated that the preproduction capital expenditure for the project will now be A$70-million less than previously expected, at about A$560-million, inclusive of an increase in the front-end mining and concentrate throughput capacity, from 5.25-million tonnes to 6.3-million tonnes.

Planned Start/End Date
Commissioning is expected in 2025.

Latest Developments
Cobalt Blue has announced plans to raise up to A$16-million in a share placement and nonrenounceable entitlement offer to advance work on its Broken Hill project.

The company has completed a private placement of 6.9-million new shares, at 58c each, raising an initial A$4-million. The issue price represents a 12% discount to Cobalt Blue’s last closing price and a 14% discount to the company’s ten-day volume weighted average share price.

The company has also announced a nonrenounceable entitlement offer of one new share for every ten shares held, also at 58c each, to raise a further A$10-million to A$12-million. The entitlement issue is not underwritten.

If the entitlement issue is fully subscribed for, more than 33-million new shares will be issued and it could raise as much as A$19.2-million.

The proceeds from the raising, along with existing cash resources, will be used to fund activities into the second half of the 2023 financial year, in parallel with completing definitive feasibility work on the project.

Funds will also be used for front-end engineering design studies, the maintenance of the Broken Hill demonstration plant and retention of operations staff beyond the testwork, which is likely to finish in the first quarter of 2023, to retain a core of well-trained operators through the commissioning period.

The company will also assess cobalt-in-waste stream opportunities where current testwork will be expanded, potentially requiring larger-scale testwork at the existing demonstration plant and the buying of selective local commercial or industrial property to support future operations.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
None stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Cobalt Blue Holdings, tel +61 2 8287 0660 or email info@cobaltblueholdings.com